Time of the End
by ThaShasta
Summary: A.J. and her friends just want to spend the majority of their newfound freedom of summer with each other. But when they suddenly wake up in a somewhat unfamiliar place, they must discover how and/or why they're here. Rated T because why not?
1. Chapter 1

I nearly tripped on my way downstairs to my room. I threw my empty backpack against the wall and lurched into my chair. I then turn on my computer. The light blue glare of the first monitor lights half of the room. After I log in, I check into Skype. A message from my best friend, Morgan, appears. It reads:

_Dude, get ahold of me as soon as you get home_

I place my mic to the left of me, slip on my headphones, and quickly call her. "Yo. Sup A.J.?" She answers.

"You ready for the most epic night of your life?" I ask. She responds with deafening laughter. After a moment, I realize how much of an awkward response that was. "Oh no! You're freaking awful. You know what I mean!"

"Oh, I know what you mean." she says in an unrefined tone. I felt as if I was lucky she wasn't able to see my red, hot face.

"Shut the hell up." I cry.

"Aw, Fine." she whines "All we have to do is get a hold of the others and we're set. What's on this mod pack you and Wes made?"

"I want it to be a surprise."

"Can I know at least ONE of the mods?"

"Shaders."

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?" she hisses.

"Takes one to know one." I chuckle. A few moments later, I hear a ring and exhale deeply from laughter. I answer and its Ethan. "Afternoon," he announces in his scratchy British accent.

"Ready for the night of your life?" she says, imitating me. My face becomes hotter. Yet, I'm smarter to say nothing.

"Ew, really? C'mon." he utters.

"Well, all we need now is Wes and Ellie and we can start." I proclaim.

"That's what she said." Morgan calls out. Me and Ethan know the response to that in a heartbeat. We remain silent to make her feel awkward. Instead of the intended reaction, she bursts out laughing. I join and then Ethan. Another ring is heard and I know her profile picture by heart.

"What's up, guys?" Ellie asserts "Whatcha laughing at?"

"Just one of Morgan's crappy... uh" Ethan implies "... what's the word?"

"Forget it. It's just something stupid." Morgan answers. The final ring is heard and we over lap each other with a "Its Wes." or a "There he is!" (Obviously Morgan)

"You guys rea-" He begins.

"No! Not this time!" I cry, cutting him off "Sorry just don't want to sit here another minute trying to get Morgan to stop laughing." It takes me a moment to figure out what to say without setting off Morgan. I decide to go right for the neck. "Alright, should we go for it, or should we prepare ourselves?"

Nothing. Guess she missed that one. On the other topic, we voted preparation.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting my cola."

"Yeah, I'm getting some energy drinks." Morgan declares.

"Gotta get myself some snacks." Wes followed.

"Ethan? Ellie? How about yourselves?"

"I think Ellie's getting herself something. I guess I could go for a Sprite."

"So its settled, then." I finish. But by the time I do, I hear nothing but silence. I roll my eyes and jump out of my chair and up the stairs.

_(~)_

I run to the cupboard and grab a bag of chips. I nearly drop them when I hear a hiss as my foster parents' snake, Mark, hisses at me. I don't understand why, but its like they actually _taught _him to hate me. Since Mindy was out with William this week, I feared he may have the opportunity to sink his fangs into my neck while I'm sleeping. Mindy and William thought I was old enough to babysit myself, but all they had to prove was that I can make my own food.

Its no mystery that I was adopted, I just don't know they know I do. I reach down to pick up the bag when I hear him thud against the glass. I flinch and sprint to the fridge, for I had known I had stood there too long. I open the door and reach for about 4 cans of cola and 5 string cheese sticks. I run back downstairs and threw on my headphones.

"Its about damn time!" Morgan exclaimed. "What the hell took you so long, A.J.?!"

"Morgan!" Ellie and Wes corrected her.

"Sorry, just making sure it lasted." I proclaim.

"Good Idea." Ethan states.

"That and Mark's giving me trouble again." I then say under my breath.

"Really? I thought you said you'd talk to Mindy about that."

"I easily forget, man. Besides, who knows when I'll remember?"

"Oh well," Wes says "Lets get started." By the time he finished his statement, I had already logged into Minecraft. I then type in the IP and join the server. The sheer look of the texture pack and shaders combined took my mind off of Mark and I was finally relaxed.


	2. Chapter 2

"Dude, quit!" Wes chuckles. We had been playing around with the Gulliver Mod and I had threw a half dozen downsizing potions at him, and about only 2 hitting him. The rest... backfired.

"Oh no!" I shout. I turn to see Ellie standing behind me, looking rather sheepishly with a sword in hand. I instantly run to the right of me. "Don't do it! Ah!"

Ethan and Morgan are heard in the background, cursing at each other, crashing into each other's airship and just about cracking up. I jump into one of the many crashed airships and lift off. I begin to laugh out of control and the other two follow. I then hear my e-mail tone.

"Hold on. Hold on!" I interrupt our laughs. "I got an e-mail." It takes a while to load, which is strange considering how fast my computer usually acts. It finally opens, and I don't find anything legible. It looks like one of those mysterious things you'd find in a horror movie. Lines spread across, blocking a message in another language.

I come to the conclusion its just another spam e-mail, since the name of the sender didn't have a first or last name. Instead, it read: _J.122. _I had gotten a whole bunch of spam like this since I was twelve. Stupid shit actually made me believe some creepy black haired man in a drench coat would kill me in the middle of the night. I stayed up for _weeks._

"Its just some stupid spam." I reinsured the gang.

"I hate that shit." Ethan called.

"You got some, too?" Wes asked. "Huh, I guess its goin' around. Me and Ellie got some earlier."

"I'm guessing yours had a bunch of crap on the screen, then?" Ellie inquired.

"Yep." I replied.

"Morgan, are you pulling this shit on us?" Ethan shouted.

"No. I'm not!" she cried in response, "I swear I got it, too! And why are you blaming me? Ethan's the only one who hasn't got one!"

"No, I got it, too."

"Then something's really fucked up, here?"

"No shit." Wes implied. "Lets just try to ignore it. I'm sure its just Alpha fuckin' with us, again. Remember when he totaled your place, Ethan? He does this shit _all the damn time_." We came to the agreement he was probably right. Alpha was this really corrupted guy we met on a server a year ago. He constantly destroyed Ethan and my creations (we build the best out of the group, its how we met).

"That'd make a _lot _more sense if he knew our e-mails." Morgan suggested.

"He gets his way around anything, though." Ellie insisted. "He used hacks to destroy buildings. What makes you think he didn't find a way to get our e-mails? He knows Wes' and I'm _sure_ he knows yours."

"Yeah..." I muttered. "Dick."

* * *

After about half an hour of shooting each other's airships with elemental arrows, I my eyes grew heavy and my head began to hurt. Badly. As if I didn't want to move. "Guys," I proclaimed, "I'm not feeling too well. I think I've been staring at the screen for too long."

"What? We haven't even gotten started!" Wes shouted.

"Wes, its been 10 hours."

"Oh..."

"That's gotta suck," Morgan reports "I didn't even notice. Well, get better, man."

"Yeah, we'll see you tomorrow." Ellie added. Ethan had tried to say something, but I had left the call and turned off my monitor. I slowly crept from my chair to my bed. I almost collapsed in how much my head hurt. The room was beginning to fade to black.

_Its never hurt so **bad **before! Not like this at least. Should I call an ambulance? Mindy?_ I thought to myself. I began to reach for my phone, but something was holding me back. I fall to my knees, but reach to climb into my bed. Painful tears leaked from my eyes as I pull up my blankets.

But not another thought slips into my mind before I'm out cold.

* * *

I feel awake, but my eyes won't open and I cant move a muscle. I cannot speak, but I can feel. I feel a cold presence carry me. Sliding and wrapping around me. _Well, I saw this coming _I told myself, thinking of Mark. But something didn't fit to that snaky description. It was like a mist, not a hint of scale. And It only felt tighter when I thought about it. Was It trying to _kill me?_

No. It was taking me.

* * *

I awake, gasping for air. When I catch my breath, I realize the place I was in didn't fit the description of my cold basement room. I was warm and bright green blades of grass where I now rest. I lift myself up into a sitting position. _I must be dreaming _I thought. And something else wasn't the same either.

The hoodie, t-shirt and jeans from the night before were no longer intact. Instead, a pair of ripped jeans covered my legs, a blackish-purple laced coat upon my shoulders and underneath, a purple t-shirt. Another note is that my hair was no longer a deep brown, but a white with streaked ends leading to green, purple or blue.

Something was familiar to these characteristics. They matched my punk-like skin. "Oh my god," I wail "Oh, no no no no no no no!"_  
_

I try to awake my self, shaking myself, hitting my own head (Dammit, that hurts), and just plain closing my eyes and opening them after 5 seconds. Nothing works. I jump when I hear a very feminine voice.

"Go. Go find them." it says. I look around to see no one.

"Hello?" I call. I wait and no response. "Great. I'm just going _fucking insane._ No big deal."

I pause for a moment to think. "Okay. On the off chance I'm _not _totally insane, _who _do I go find?" But before I have another moment to think, my hair on the back of my neck raises when I hear a crunch of leaves and branches behind me. I lump forms in my throat and I hold my breath. I hear another feminine voice behind me, except this time familiar.

"A.J.?" it spoke.


	3. Chapter 3

It was Ellie. The second I turn to see her, she embraces me. Tightly. "Oh man," she cries "I thought I was the only one here! Wait, does that mean..."

Her words trailed off and I pick up on what she was about to say. I pick up her arms and remove them away from me. She wore a blue hoodie with yellow laced around the edges and slacks. "I guess this means... everyone else is somewhere here? Right?" I suggested.

"I guess. We should find them and find out what the hell is going on." she replied.

"Well, I've already got an idea. We all got that e-mail, right? Maybe that did something cause us to be here."

"Yeah. A while after you left, Wes said he had to go. He wasn't feeling too well. Morgan-" I gasped worriedly at the thought of my best friends in pain. "Oh, erm. Should I continue?" she questioned. I nodded.

"She just... left without a word," her voice was beginning to break "And I was so fucking scared when Ethan wouldn't respond. Then I can't remember what happened after..." she trailed off and shut her eyes tight to prevent a trembling tear.

"Dont worry," I implied. "I've heard all I need. We'll find a way to fix this. I promise. We just gotta find the others, for now" She nodded in response.

* * *

We walked for some time before hearing a familiar cry. We looked around to see a cave dropping down about 10 feet. Down we saw a male figure with dark jeans, light brown hair covering one of his grey eyes, a t-shirt and a black jacket. He looked up to us and gave us a look of confusion. The name _Ethan _immediately popped into my mind.

"A.J.? Ellie?" he called to us.

"Yeah, its us." I answered.

"Do you know what the_ hell _is going on?"

"I think we have an idea. How'd you get down there?"

"I just woke up down here. I need a little help getting up."

"No problem, I got it." Ellie insisted, extending her arm. He grabbed and pulled up towards us. On the other hand Ellie pulled her hands up. He managed to grab the edge and pull himself up the rest of the way.

"Alright, so that's three down, two to go." I declared.

* * *

The sun had reached the peak of the sky and we still hadn't found Wes nor Morgan. Suddenly, an arrow barley misses me and hits the bark of a tree. "Woah!" I exclaim.

Another is shot and it misses my foot by an inch. I look to my left to see not a man but instead an impossibly thin silhouette of one. In fact, a _skeleton. _"A.J.! Run!" I hear Ethan shout from behind.

I nearly trip as I spin around and dash to find safety. "This way!" I call to my friends. I turn back to see a crowd of figures following close behind us. Ellie and Ethan run to my sides and manage to get ahead of me. We find ourselves cornered in the back of an above round cave and the figures begin to close in on us. I get a good count of about three or four.

"SHIT!" Ellie wails.

"We're so fucked!" Ethan nearly sobs. An arrow nicks Ethan's left arm, which immediately begins to bleed. Abruptly, I hear a shout. A sword crashes through a skeleton and to another figure.

An arrow pierces the head of another rotted figure. This one still decaying. Without noticing of its nearness, the final one grabs ahold of my ankle and I'm on the ground kicking it away. I let out a cry for help and the sword the monster through the eye.

With a gasp of relief, I look up to see exactly the kind of safety we needed. Morgan stood holding a bow and Wes wielding the sword. Her blue eyes widened. "Did you see that?! I totally shot that one!" Morgan shouts. "Although, that was my... last arrow."

She wore a lime green jacket and dark blue jeans. Whilst Wes wore a blue jean jacket with a pair of plaid shorts, and appeared about a few inches shorter.

I barely let out a scoff before realizing the blood leaking from Ethan's fingers grasped around his arm and the painful expression he now flashed. "Oh my god!" Wes shrieked.

"Are you alright?" Morgan asked.

"Of course he's not, he's been shot!"

"Don't worry," Ethan interrupted. "I can hold through until we find some help. Just it hurts so goddamn much."

Ellie stepped up, pushing everyone aside. "A.J., lend me one of you're socks."

"Which one?" I questioned.

"Does it really fuckin' matter?"

"Just trying to lighten the mood." I pull off my left boot and slide one of my socks off. Ellie jerks it out of my hand and begins to stretch it out. Eventually, its about a half its own size more than it was a minute ago. She gestures Ethan to move his arm up, wraps it around his arm and ties it tight. A few dreadful grunts escapes between his teeth during the process.

"C'mon, we gotta find somebody to help us." Morgan affirms.

"Where the hell do you think we'll find anyone else?" Wes shouts.

"Well, we cant be the only ones out here!"

"Guys!" Ellie cuts in. "He's loosing blood. Eventually he'll loose too much. Its worth a try."

"But which direction do we head?" I ask.

"Lets try heading west. We're bound to find some sort of civilization."

"What do we do for nourishment? Food?"

"Wes, do you think you can hunt for something? Anything edible." she turns to face him. "By the way, where'd you get that? And the bow, too?"

"We knocked the sword out of a monster we came across, and I used it to kill a walking skeleton to get the bow." he affirmed. "And sure thing."

"Morgan, I need you to get some wood to start a fire along with finding clear water. We're staying here for the night."

"What about Ethan? You said he was loosing blood." she asks.

"He still needs some rest. We spent the whole day looking for you two. Just go, already. And A.J., you'll be in charge of staying here and checking in on Ethan every once in a while."

"Aye aye, captain!" I answer. "And I'm guessing you'll be staring the fire?"

"Correct. Now, lets get started

* * *

"About on a scale of one to ten, how much does it hurt?" I ask.

"I'd say about a good 23." Ethan responds.

"Ouch. You know, that arrow could've hit me if we were about a few inches to our right."

"What do you think's going on?" he changes the subject. "I mean, where do you think we are?"

"I'm not sure. But something seems too familiar. Skeletons and zombie-like beings after us. Just so much like..." I look at the horizon.

"Like Minecraft?"

"Well, sort of. But what other proof do we have? Just because a couple of monsters from a video game chase us. Here's some food for your thought; where are all the blocks?"

"I'd rather discuss this when everyone gets back. Can I get a little bit of rest? In case you didn't know, I was just shot." he snapped.

"Whatever." After a few moments, he returns to converse.

"I think that e-mail we got sent us here." he suggests.

"I would think so. But why?"

"Thats what we have to find out. Along side with how we get back home. My parents are gonna be so pissed if I'm gone for long."

"I bet Mindy wouldn't give a damn if I was lying dead in the basement for 2 years." I chuckle.

"My parents panic at the sound of a pin drop!" Ellie calls from the mouth of the cave. Ethan joins into the laughter.

"How's the fire coming along?" I request.

"Its starting to die out, and I'm waiting for Morgan to come back with more wood."

"No need to wait any longer!" Morgan's voice calls from the distance. She dashes to the mouth and catches her breath.

"Where the hell is the wood?"

"No... no need for wood. I found something _better_!"


	4. Chapter 4

It takes me a while to get my bearings. In the distance, I see a wall stretching for _miles_ both left and right. The great amount of noise emitting from the city can be heard, signifying life. We all turn to look at each other.

"Holy shit," Ellie gasps. "Nice work, Morgan!"

"Just a stroke of luck." she gloats.

"A stroke of luck? Are you kidding me? This is Ethan's survival standing before us! And you call this a stroke of luck?"

"Jeez, no need to shout."

"What about shouting?" a voice calls. I turn to see we completely forgot about Wes. "I didn't catch anything. But I see you've found something better."

"Yeah. Lets head in, because the sooner we get Ethan some medical attention, the better." I announce. "Just make sure you don't seem too much in pain. They might just cut your arm off."

Ethan gulps deep. I allow Ellie to lead the way and we head around to find a tall wooden gate. To the right side, a guard tips his hat, not even noticing Ethan's wound. As we head through the gate, _oohs _and _aahs_ slip out of our mouth. A beautiful sight of hundreds of buildings stacking up a hill. A few people rushed to their houses and others headed in what seemed to be dozens of directions.

"This is pretty amazing, I have to admit." Wes noted.

"Alright, stay on task." Ellie muttered. The gravel beneath us turned to cobblestone, leading to a bridge. Morgan walked over to the side and I followed.

"Woah! I think I might get sick." she grumbled. I took noticed she was looking down. I then feel nauseous at the sight of rushing water many feet below us.

"Guys!" Ellie called. "C'mon, this is serious!"

"Okay, I guess."

* * *

The unforgiving chill of night rushed between the buildings and we quickly regret leaving the cave. _By now we could've had a fire. We could've been safe!_ A dark thought presented to my mind. Not long before a loud set of footsteps echoed and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

"Crap." I whisper to myself. I reposition myself and stand up straight. Shoulders back and chin forward. Two figures appear before us. One thin and tall, and another larger, more muscular, and appeared with a square jaw. The thin one spoke in a calm, low tone.

"Can it be?" he asked. "It surely can't!" When he stepped into visible light, his appeared as an older man with gray messy hair and a hint of a recently shaved beard. He spoke again, but this time to the larger figure. "Do you know what this means, Nerib?"

I have no idea who this man is or who he might have mistaken me for. "Erm," I stutter. "Who are you exactly?"

"She really has no idea, does she?" he spoke again to his acquaintance.

"I could really go for some explanation, if you don't mind." I direct.

"My name is Yeng. I was a friend of your parents." This made no sense. But there was barely a glimpse of it. But it was only that I was orphaned. What didn't make sense was how he knew them. He looks past me and sees Ethan.

"I see one of your friends is hurt. May I help you take care of that?" he insists.

"Yes, please!" Ellie cries.

"Come. I'll take you back to my place."

* * *

We reach a building and a gust of warm air wraps around us as the door is opened.

"Wait, what's going on?" I ask. "How do you know my parents? How do you know me? Where are we?"

"I can answer those questions in a moment. Nerib, take this fine gentleman upstairs and give him some medicine." Yeng gestures to Ethan. The behemoth points up a set of stairs and Ethan doesn't hesitate. "Now, where to begin?"

"Where are we?"

"Ah. There is no defined name for this place as we know, but only very few people call this place Minecraftia. What nut-jobs. The rest of 'em, such as my self and Nerib, call it Wiamwen. Because why not? That and it was thought of by Charles Wiamwen. But in your perspective, I'd say another world. I know of where you and your friends come from and I think its absolutely dull. I mean, there's just too much sense behind it. Not enough mystery such as what we have here. But anyways, that old monitor of yours works as a kaleidoscope. You see it differently as it actually is. The actual truth is, there's a world behind everything. Just some are more intelligible than others. And most are too distant. But I managed to be able to get a way to transport you here."

"That e-mail."

"To be honest, I don't know what form it came as, but yes."

"So, why?" He looks at the ground and takes long to respond. He continues.

"There's something that threatens all the worlds. It can't be stopped by a mere army or some firearms. This thing can rip apart the fabric known as existence. The Darkness. It can cause everything to be dark and cold. Millions of innocent beings will be ripped into nothingness. The world known as the end has suffered greatly. It has been surrounded by this substance for Millions of years. It's not as it used to be. It thrived with life. What remains of that life are what now called Endermen. The dark around them caused them to grow taller and darker."

He holds a mirror directly above my nose.

"Look at your eyes. The same violet glow of an enderman's inherits in you. Those of the End have learned of the ways of the Dark. You are the one to stop it." I look at my feet, realizing how much had been told to me.

"How? How will I do that?"

"Someone inherits the Dark. Like you do with the End. His name is Billard. His location is undefined but he's impossible to miss. All you must do is destroy him."

"Yes, but how? I wasn't given any sort of training."

"It's in your blood."

"What else do I inherit?"

"Thats for you to find." This seemed so strange to me. But I made even more sense than it did before.


End file.
